You walk through the door that supposedly leads to the Library, following the narrow corridor down several flights of stairs to another, much larger door. Somewhat apprehensively (what could need a door this big?) you knock. The door swings open, revealing what looks like the night sky.You glance down as something starts rubbing against your legs. It feels like a cat. Cautiously, you reach down to stroke it, then pull your hand back as it encounters what feels like a bat's wing.
"I see you met Cosmos," an amused voice says from off to your left. Startled, you jump and turn, finding yourself face to face with a young woman.
"My name's Althne," she tells you. "I'm in charge of the Library here...me and Chrysial." She indicates a large golden dragon lying among the piles of scrolls and books. You feel very small as Chrysial gets to her feet.
"Don't mind her; she's just here to stop people stealing the books," Althne says lightly. "And to keep me company, of course. She comes from DragonMoon, which closed down some time ago," she adds with a slight sigh. "Cosmos came from there as well."
You glance around.
"Any more strange animals I should know about?" you ask.
A wicked gleam appears in Althne's eye.
"Funny you should mention that..."A blue firedrace suddenly zips across your vision, rolls over, loops the loop and comes to hover in front of you, looking at you curiously.
Althne rolls her eyes.
"Meet Gond. He's from the Hatchery, and he's the oldest resident here, although you'd never think it to look at him," she adds, as Gond divebombs Cosmos and they take off in a game of chase.
"I heard there were legends here..." you say. Althne smiles.
"There's more than just the Legends, but yes, there are." She raises her voice. "Stal? Stal, are you and Zap there? We have guests."A bronze drace flies in cautiously, followed by a white baby.
"The bronze is Stal," Althne explains. "He was abandoned by his owner, so I adopted him and brought him to live with me and Gond. Zap came along much later, and she adores Stal," she adds, somewhat unnecessarily as Zap flies so close to Stal she ends up bumping into him.
"Follow me," Althne tells you, and you do, emerging in a room full of books. "These are all the Legends we've managed to get hold of so far. Of course, others are being written all the time, but it takes a while to get them into book form."
There's an inquisitive chirrup and you look down, seeing a creature that's a little like a squirrel...but only a little.
Althne grins.
"That's the last creature in here. I promise. His name's Besai, and he's an ibo from DragonMoon. It's his job to catalog the books in here. I'll leave you to it; I have work to do." She turns and walks out, leaving you (and Besai) to the books.